As many of you know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I get rather upset when it gets overlooked in society. I couldn't help but notice that there isn't any fun, Thanksgiving music. Halloween has "The Monster Mash" and other silly songs about ghosts and witches, and of course the winter holidays have their own genre altogether, but nothing for Thanksgiving. Not only does this upset me, but I also find it a bit odd. Music is all about self-expression and displaying emotion, and isn't Thanksgiving all about being thankful for what you have and expressing that? Thanksgiving seems like the perfect holiday for music. You can even incorporate a turkey gobble here and there. Personally, my inspiration for music comes from what I am most thankful for in my life, my family and friends. Thus, Thanksgiving, for me, is all about recognizing them, and thats what my music is usually about as well. Granted, I'm no composer, but when I perform, my best musical expressions come when I have them in mind.
I think I'm just going to go and find Irving Berlin and ask him to write me some Thanksgiving music. That may be a tad difficult however... Hmm.. I'll have to think of someone else...
Maybe some day your students will write the Thanksgiving carols that you're searching for! That could be a really exciting assignment for students to write words to a song of thanks which includes what they are really thankful for and then put it to a backing track (e.g., GarageBand) or some other accompaniment of your choosing. Maybe take a Halloween or Holiday carol and use the background music to make your own new Thanksgiving carol or just create your own composition assignment creating new music.
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